They demand so much. They offer so little.

British Nationalist ideologues such as Adam Tomkins insist, in ever more shrill and angry tones, that Scotland must not diverge from the rest of the United Kingdom. But these fanatics never explain why. They never explain why Scotland’s interests must always be subordinated to the demands of a British political elite which has repeatedly and decisively been rejected by the Scottish electorate. They never explain why the people of Scotland should put their faith in a British regime which has exhibited such woeful incompetence, mindless recklessness, brazen dishonesty and blatant contempt for our democratic institutions.

They never explain why Scotland should not seek solutions tailored to our circumstances and informed by the needs, priorities and aspirations of Scotland’s people.

They never explain why Scotland’s economic, social and political welfare must always be sacrificed for the sake of preserving the structures of power, privilege and patronage which define the British state.

They never explain why Scotland should give up so much for a British political system which is inherently incapable of representing Scotland’s interests.

They never explain why the people of Scotland should trust British politicians who have for so long shown themselves to be unworthy. British politicians who constantly denigrate Scotland. British politicians who treat Scottish voters with open disdain. British politicians who refuse to respect the authority of the Scottish Parliament and the democratic mandate of the Scottish Government.

British Nationalist zealots like Tomkins never try to persuade us of the merits of the Union, which they appear to regard as ‘divinely ordained’. Instead, they threaten us with dire retribution should we show any heretical tendencies to put reason before faith. They demand that we submit on pain of the very ruin that their narrow, fearful, isolationist, xenophobic ideology promises us.

They cannot tell us what Scotland gets out of this Union which might compensate for the sacrifices it requires of us. They cannot tell us why Scotland must always be the exception. They cannot tell us why Scotland cannot be a normal nation. They can give no good reason why Scotland should remain party to a political union which is seriously detrimental to our national interest.

A political union which can only be sustained with open threats, empty promises, transparent dishonesty, cancerous corruption and utter contempt for democratic principles is a political union which is broken beyond repair. It is a political union which must end.

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Brilliant, and so simple.
I remember Cameron’s piece on it. Big on sentiment, of course: loads of our “beloved union”, his grandfather who owned an estate somewhere in Scotland, “our family of nations” and all the usual cloying stuff.
But there was also a deal of “punching above our weight”, being “feared and/or admired” in equal measure all over the world, the third largest military spend, a player on the world stage.
Of course, in his world, that was important.
But I’ve never flown first class to Washington to stand in the Rose Garden with the president: I’ve never been a guest in the Saudi royal palaces, or in the Forbidden City, so I get no benefit from this.
I only had a mate who was sent to war in Iraq and didn’t quite come back. That was my bonus from punching above our weight.
That, and the fact that because of the massive military spending, we have less for policing, health, education, transport etc, which, of course, doesn’t much interest people who don’t use public services that much.
I’d also like to ask the likes of Tomkins what it is about Scottish people that makes them think that we couldn’t manage an economy like Sweden’s Denmark’s Norway’s, Iceland’s or Ireland’s.
Are Scots, I’d like to ask, somewhat remarkably (given the geography of the other countries) somehow inferior genetically or intellectually, to members of these other nations?